Running start for Beat the Street in Swindon

Beat the Street, Swindon’s giant walking and cycling initiative, is off to a running start with residents travelling more than 83,000 miles within the first week of the game.

Published: Thursday, 20th September 2018

More than 26,000 people have walked and cycled 83,000 miles in just five days for Beat the Street, a free competition which challenges people to see how far they can travel around Swindon in return for points and prizes.

Taking place until 24 October, Beat the Street is transforming Swindon into a giant game with players tapping special sensors called Beat Boxes dotted across the borough. The response to Beat the Street has been incredible with thousands of people visiting libraries, supermarkets and other distribution points to pick up a card and get involved.

More than 140 schools and teams in Swindon are competing against each other to see who can journey the furthest and win hundreds of pounds worth of prizes. After one week, Ferndale Primary School and Wanborough Primary School are the top schools while Swindon Home Educators and Ginger Zingers are the top community teams – however, with five weeks left to go it is still all to play for.

The game in Swindon is delivered by Intelligent Health and is one of 59 Beat the Street games that will be set up across the South West and East Midlands using a new £3.3 million National Lottery funding grant from Sport England. The game has received further funding from Swindon Borough Council.

Councillor Brian Ford, Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Adults, said: “Beat the Street is off to a running start in Swindon. We are delighted to see so many people walking, running and cycling for the competition. There is still time to get involved – pick up a card from your leisure centre or library and start tapping!”

Dr William Bird, CEO and Founder of Intelligent Health, said: “The response to Beat the Street has been incredible – our biggest start to a Beat the Street game so far. Dozens of towns and cities have taken part in the game so far and Swindon is proving to be one of the most active areas where Beat the Street has taken place.”

To find out where your nearest distribution centre is visit beatthestreet.me/swindon.